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Encouraging Job News for New Graduates

Jobs are Available in Healthcare

Careers in Education, Sales, Construction and other fields, too!

New high school and college graduates are worried about the job market. The newspapers and internet news sites are full of dire predictions for the class of 2012. Since the start of the recession in 2008, job growth has slowed and the employment picture is not expected to improve for several more years. The students who are still in college have often felt forced to take a critical look at their choice of majors and change them to ones that are more marketable, such as careers in the medical field and business. This more realistic approach doesn’t help those new graduates who are getting out of school by the tens of thousands this spring with degrees in liberal arts, fine arts, theater and the like. A few of their fellow students have made adjustments during the past four years, and for them it may be easier than they had feared to find opportunities in the current job market. For those students who are just graduating from high school, they can still go into training programs, certificate programs or four year degree programs that will make it much easier for them to find jobs when they graduate. There are a wide variety of jobs available for those who have planned ahead.

According to a chart put together by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, there are definitely career paths with plenty of good job prospects. The ones that are at the top of the list are expected to have continued job growth until at least the end of this decade. Although salaries have remained virtually unchanged for the past few years in many of these fields, eventually pay rates are expected to rise again. By getting on the ground floor of these jobs now, young people will be in a perfect position to benefit when salaries begin to rise.

Credit: www.morguefile.com

(Learn more about how to find a job by using one of the job hunting books recommended at the end of this article. They are available from Amazon.com)

Careers in the Medical Profession

One area that continues to see strong job growth is the medical field. Registered Nurses earn a median salary of about $64,690, although starting salaries are somewhat lower than that. Between now and 2020, the number of nurses working in theUnited Statesis expected to grow about 26% from 2,737,400 to 3,449,300. This is a wonderful opportunity for anyone who begins to prepare for a career in nursing now.

You do not have to go to school for a four year nursing degree in order to benefit from the increasing need for healthcare workers. There are many other career choices which, according to the Department of Labor, are also expected to see strong job growth. Among the positions that have an anticipated job growth of 20% or higher during the next decade are: nursing aides, home health aides, medical secretaries, licensed practical and vocational nurses, medical assistants and, of course, physicians. The median salaries for these positions are reasonable, considering that some of the positions, such as that of a home health aide, only require a few weeks of training. As you can see from these sample median incomes, the more training that is required for the job, the higher the income: $20,670 for a home health aide, $40,380 for a vocational nurse, $28,860 for a medical assistant and $111,570 for a physician or surgeon.

The good news about jobs in medicine and heathcare is that there are opportunities for people at all levels of education and ability. You can get a position in the field with just a few weeks of training, a two-year community college certificate, a four-year college degree, or after spending years in medical school.

Careers in Sales

Another profession with a lot of opportunity for both high school and college graduates is sales. Because our economy continues to change from a manufacturing economy to a service economy, the number of people who work in the national sales force also continues to grow. According to predictions from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, selling products and services is a career that is expected to be in high demand in the coming decade. In fact, they anticipate a growth of 15 – 16% between 2010 and 2020.

Sales positions have a median income of $20,670, but the actual income for specific jobs can vary dramatically, depending on the product or service being sold. For example, someone working at a discount department store will earn much less than someone selling luxury automobiles. If the salesperson has the job title of customer service representative, their median income rises to $30,460. Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives earn about $52,440.

Careers in Education

Are you interested in working with children and teenagers? Education is another field that is expected to grow in the coming decade, and you do not necessarily need to have a college education to get into this field. While college teachers (who earn an average of $45,690) and elementary school teachers (who earn an average of $51,660) expect job growth of around 17%, there will also be a rising need for other people who work in the schools as aides or clerks, as well as for other people who work with children. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects more than 20% growth in the need for childcare workers, who earn about $19,300.

High Demand for Office Workers

Looking for an office job? As businesses begin to expand, the need for office workers will also increase. General office clerks, who earn about $26,610, can anticipate an increase of about 16% in demand for people in their field. If you have been trained to work as a bookkeeper, accountant or auditing clerk, there will be a 13.6% increase in demand for people in your field. The median income for people in these professions is about $34,000. Receptionists, who earn about $25,240, can expect almost a 24% increase in job openings over the next decade.

More Jobs That Do Not Require a College Degree

As mentioned in several of the categories above, many jobs do not require a college education. For example, food workers, who earn about $18,000, can expect nearly a 15% increase in job growth. Truck drivers, who earn around $37,770, should see more than a 20% increase in available jobs. In fact, ABC news reported on June 26, 2012 that some companies are experiencing such a need for truck drivers that they are offering as much as $50,000 a year to encourage people to work for them.

Janitors, laborers and landscaping workers, who earn around $23,000, will see growth in these fields of about 10 – 20%. Construction workers, who earn about $29,280, can anticipate a 21% increase in job openings. Specific types of occupations in the building trades will do even better, especially in areas where home building is picking up again. For example, carpenters have a median income of nearly $40,000 and can expect to have 19.6% job growth over the next few years.

Although news stories about the job market often seem to be discouraging, the Bureau of Labor Statistics information indicates that there are at least some areas where jobs are available, if people seek out the appropriate training. Even for those who chose to get a college degree in liberal arts, or who decided not to get additional education or training after high school, there are opportunities in sales or as office clerks. Once prospective employees begin to focus their job searches in the right areas, they may discover more job opportunities than they expected!

If you wish to take a more detailed look at these government projections, see the Bureau of Labor Statistics chart, cited below.

Statistics from: http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_104.htm

(The books sold below will give you more information about how to find a job. They are all available from Amazon.)